We have a fire engine

The weather remains unsettled and the river has gone from green to muddy and back to green, but folks are still pushing for summer to really arrive. In the last few weeks I have counted a high of 76 vehicles headed up the North Fork and a low of 41 and with two other trips the count was in the 50s. Only a few years ago the average count was thirty no matter what day of the week I was on the road.

Some of the traffic, no doubt, is due to the fact that the Northern Lights, Polebridge Merc and Home Ranch Store are now open for the summer. In addition, the food truck at Polebridge was open and was doing a lot of business on Saturday when the weather was quite blustery. Also, quite a few photos were being taken of the “Bigfoot Family” which stands between the Merc and the Northern Lights. In any case, there is now a fire truck located at the Merc which could be really valuable in case of a fire in the Polebridge Townsite. I doubt it could do much for a house fire on Trail Creek. I just wonder who will serve as firemen and what kind of training they have. I suspect that, like Trail Creek residents, they can and will do a limited direct attack only. That means put water on a fire but not enter any buildings. On Trail Creek we will do an initial attack on lightning strikes while they are still tiny, but our best use is contacting the Forest Service with an accurate location. They can then do the final mop up or call for needed additional resources.

At any rate we don’t have any big worries about wildfire – yet. July, August and even September may be a different story. Now is the time to clean up your property to prepare for the coming fire season. Clean up and remove fallen trees and limbs and cut down bushes close to the house.

It is also important to check your building’s biggest threat, wind blown embers that can smolder, burst into flames and destroy the building. Wooden walkways can be a wick that brings fire up to the wooden steps which can ignite the building. Make sure your vents are properly screened as well as your woodshed and piles of firewood.

Finally, have an escape plan with you if you need to evacuate. High on my list are firearms and photos – especially negatives. Probably my grizzly bear rug would be next but I don’t know what I would do with it if the cabin were lost. Because of my age I don’t know if I would rebuild – but my kids might.

What do you think?